Bertram writes another page of history: entry to the BCL Top 16. Victory in Greece over Peristeri for the 2-0 in the Play-In
Peristeri Domino's – Bertram Derthona 65-73
(5-22, 23-35, 41-46)
Peristeri: Tziallas ne, Coffey 3, Xanthopoulos, Papas 10, Stavrakopoulos 3, Poulianitis 2, Tsourgiannis ne, Brown 6, Carberry 8, Eddie 19, Jankovic 11, Zougris 3. All. Limniatis
Bertram: Zerini ne, Vital 17, Kuhse 16, Gorham 6, Candi 3, Denegri 4, Strautins 7, Baldasso, Kamagate 9, Biligha, Severini 2, Weems 9. All. De Raffaele.
Referees: Liszka (POL), Castillo (ESP), Gedvilas (LTU).
In the space of three days, Bertram Derthona achieves the second of two mid-season goals. Fresh from entering the Frecciarossa Final Eight of the Italian Cup, the black and white team reaches the qualification milestone for the Top 16 of the Basketball Champions League in Greece. The 73-65 obtained at Peristeri Domino's repeats the home success in Game 1 a week ago (69-59) and closes the Play-In series early on 2-0, allowing Derthona to take another step forward compared to last season with the historic participation in the second group stage of the Round of 16 of the top European competition for FIBA clubs.
Tortona showed grit again to bring home the result, this time resisting the comeback with the overtaking of the home team in the final after the overpowering 22-5 of the first quarter seemed to be able to immediately direct the game in Severini and his teammates' direction, despite an evening that was immediately, and for most of the time, very crooked in the three-point shooting. But, as happened in the last championship match with Scafati, a three-pointer was the one that brought the result back in Tortona's side in the final sprint and again signed by the same author, Christian Vital, whose very marked shot from beyond the arc found the bottom of the net with just over a minute to go for the precious 62-68. A margin then secured by the winning drive by Strautins for 63-70 at -34" and by his subsequent defensive interception, with an unsportsmanlike foul, which sealed the series.
After the shocking start, the Greeks, without the absent Harris and Avdalas, had gradually recovered their performance and even found the overtaking with five and a half minutes to go on the final siren at 57-56, dragged by Eddie's triples (12 points in the fourth quarter). There Bertram promptly responded with Weems' bomb on the reversal of the front and then, on the new Greek overtaking of 60-59, with the first basket from beyond the arc by Vital and a solitary counterattack by Strautins triggered by a rebound-assist by Kuhse for 60-64 that with three minutes left on the clock gave the go-ahead to the aforementioned finale.
The victory launches Bertram into Group I of the Round of 16 where they find two winners of the first phase groups, the German FIT/One Wurzburg and AEK Betsson Athens, while the fourth and final team will come out of the Play-In between the Greeks of Promitheas Patrasso Vikos Cola and the Turkish team of Karsiyaka, which will see the second act tomorrow in Greece with Patrasso ahead 1-0 after the away blitz in Game-1: Derthona's debut is scheduled for Tuesday 28 January at 18:30 on the parquet of Wurzburg. Now the focus returns to the championship to prepare for Sunday's away game at the home of the league leaders Germani Brescia, an appetizer of the quarter-final that in a month will see them face each other at the Inalpi Arena in Turin for the Final Eight.
STATEMENTS After the match they talked Kyle Weems and coach Walter De Raffaele. "We had a great start, even though we didn't have great shooting percentages, it was our great defense that made the difference for the +17 at the end of the first quarter.”, is the beginning of the analysis of the black and white co-captain. "We knew that Peristeri would not give us easy things in the rest of the game, in fact they fought to get back in and in the fourth period they even managed to go ahead in the score. But in the end we did all the right things to win”. “We must be incredibly proud of the work that this new group is carrying out in a truly demanding week: we have reached the Final Eight of the Italian Cup and, above all, we have written an important page in the history of this club today, achieving qualification for the Top 16.”, he is keen to underline De Raffaele. "It is a group with an extraordinary work culture, which grows and evolves through results, but above all with a constant commitment to improving every day".
